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Israel set for court defeat over wall

Days before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) starts hearings on the legality of Israel's West Bank wall, international law experts are predicting defeat for Tel Aviv.

19 Feb 2004 23:24 GMT

The West Bank wall penetrates deep into Palestinian land

The court has been

asked by the UN General Assembly to give a so-called advisory

opinion on the legal consequences of what Israel calls an

"anti-terrorist fence".

Israel has consistently rejected the ICJ's competence in the

matter, arguing the court should not rule on what it regards as a

purely political issue and asserting their fundamental right to

self-defence.

But international law expert Olivier Ribbelink, of the

TMC Asser Institute for legal studies in The Hague,

dismissed Israel's arguments.

"In my mind there is no doubt that this is a legal question," he said.

'Self-defence'

"It

relates to very specific issues in international law - the extent of

self-defence, the obligation of an occupying power towards the

civilian population and the significance of decisions by the UN

Security Council and the General Assembly."

And Heikelina Verrijn Stuart, a Dutch lawyer,

said it is highly unlikely the court will

follow arguments

that it is inappropriate to

rule on the issue

because it is a political question that should be dealt with in the

UN.

"No one would blame (the Israelis) for building a wall along the

borders of their sovereign state. I do not see how the building of a

wall on Palestine territory could be justified as a security

measure"

John Dugard,United Nations

"I think that after so many years of resolutions from both the

General Assembly and the Security Council against Israel it is a

little weak for the court to say that the case should be left to the

UN," she said.

However, Israel is not only fighting the competence of the court but also

focusing on its right to self-defence.

Tel Aviv says the wall, which mostly consists of wire

fencing but in some places also of 8 metre-high

cement slabs, is necessary to prevent "suicide" attacks from the

Palestinian territories.

Geneva Convention

But experts say the controversial path of the barrier -

which at points juts deep into the West Bank and does not follow the

Green Line (the 1949 armistice line between Israel and the

Palestinian territories) will be central in the case if the court

rules it is competent.

"No one would blame (the Israelis) for building a wall along the

borders of their sovereign state. I do not see how the building of a

wall on Palestine territory could be justified as a security

measure," John Dugard, the special rapporteur of the United Nation's

commission on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, said

.

Experts believe the Fourth Geneva Convention, which

states what you can do on occupied territory and the

responsibilities of an occupying power towards the civilian

population, will be at the core of the case before the ICJ.

Israel argues the Geneva convention does not apply to

the West Bank because Israel is not an occupying power as it is the

only state to claim sovereignty over the territory.

Despite advancing many legal arguments to support its case,

Israel appears resigned to the fact that it will lose before the

ICJ.

Last week Israeli Justice Minister Yossef Lapid said he expected

a "negative ruling for Israel".

Condemnation

Meanwhile, human rights group Amnesty International has added

its voice to the growing number of organisations opposing the wall on the eve of the hearings.

Amnesty called on the Israeli authorities to immediately dismantle the sections of the wall already built inside the West Bank and halt construction inside the occupied territories.

It said most of the wall is not being built on the Green Line between Israel and the West Bank.

"Close to 90% of it is on Palestinian land inside the West Bank, encircling Palestinian towns and villages and cutting off communities and families from each other," Amnesty said.

"Close to 90% of it (the wall) is on Palestinian land inside the West Bank, encircling Palestinian towns and villages and cutting off communities and families from each other.

It separates farmers from their land and cuts off Palestinians from their places of work, schools, health care facilities and other essential services"

Amnesty International

"It separates farmers from their land and cuts off Palestinians from their places of work, schools, health care facilities and other essential services...

Discrimination

"Israel's legitimate needs to secure its borders and prevent access to people who may constitute a threat to its security do not justify the building of such a fence/wall inside the occupied territories."

The rights group said the building of the wall inside the occupied territories has severe negative consequences for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians.

It imposes unprecedented disproportionate and discriminatory restrictions on their movements within the occupied territories and causes other violations of their fundamental rights, including the right to work, to food, to medical care, to education and to an adequate standard of living.

The route of the wall has been designed to encompass more than 50 Israeli settlements in the occupied territories, in which the majority of Israeli settlers live and which are illegal under international law.

Amnesty said: "International human rights and humanitarian law requires Israel, as the occupying power, to protect and ensure the rights of the Palestinian population in the occupied territories."